


Changes

by deaanbeaan



Category: Harry Potter - Fandom, Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Albus Dumbledore Bashing, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bisexuality, Bullying, Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Drarry, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Eventual Fluff, Eventual Smut, Everyone Has Issues, Good Draco Malfoy, Harry Potter is a Good Boyfriend, Hermione Granger is a Good Friend, Hogwarts Era, Homophobia, M/M, Minor Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley, Post-Canon, Redeemed Draco Malfoy, Redemption, Riches to Rags, Severus Snape Bashing, Slow Burn, Trans, Trans Draco Malfoy, Trans Male Character, Transitioning, Transphobia, Violence, Will update tags as story progresses, questioning Harry
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-24
Updated: 2020-07-24
Packaged: 2021-03-05 05:13:20
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,605
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25478953
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deaanbeaan/pseuds/deaanbeaan
Summary: Draco comes out as a trans guy during summer. When he starts fifth year, things are rocky. His friends don't like him, and he has another year to wait before he can start transitioning. He finds unlikely allies in the golden trio, but when he develops feelings for Harry, will that complicate things? First two chapters are a reupload of one of my old works I deleted. Bringing it back in light of recent events with jkr
Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter
Comments: 8
Kudos: 60





	1. Chapter 1

Draco wasn't confident about going into his fifth year. On one hand, it would be a welcomed break from his home life. On the other, he would have to face his classmates. No one knew he had came out as trans over summer, so he anticipated there would be plenty of rumours upon his return. Some people would have likely heard already. Pureblooded families tended to be friendly with each other, so it was reasonable to assume word had gotten out. What would be most awkward is the humiliation of having to stay in his own room. Dumbledore and Snape thought it wouldn't be right for him to stay with the girls anymore, but it would be too dangerous to put him in with the boys. Mind you, it wasn't that they seemed to care about his safety, it seemed more likely they didn't want any trouble with the Ministry of Magic. Luckily, Draco had the law on his side, even if the majority of the wizarding world weren't too fond of trans people.

Although, magic did seem to make transitioning easier. Well, in theory it did. He would have to drink a potion everyday, and if he wanted to permanently alter a feature in similar ways to muggle surgery, there were spells that could do that. Unfortunately, those spells were almost impossible to find any information on, and the people who did do them would only do them if you met all of their criteria. Draco tried not to think about it too much. He wasn't even allowed to take the potion until he was sixteen.

Draco brushed his hair out of his face. He was still adjusting to his first short haircut. It felt weird to not feel his hair blowing in the wind. Taking a deep breath in, Draco boarded the Hogwarts express. He immediately went into the bathroom on the train to change into his robes. He put a spell on an old black shirt so it would make his chest look flat. Much to his dismay, the spell would wear off quickly. He tried the spell on the shirt again and it worked well, but he knew he'd have to excuse himself during the feast in order to recast it. As he put on his robes, he sighed. No matter what he did, he couldn't seem to get them to sit right on his body. He knew he was being stupid. He knew that they didn't cling to the curves of his body. They were about three sizes too big! Still, he tried to shake off the uncomfortable feeling and find somewhere to sit. Draco kept his head down, trying not to draw attention to himself, yet he still heard murmurs about him.

'Is that Draya?' a fourth year Ravenclaw said to her friend.

'I heard it got disowned. What a fucking freak,' Said a seventh year Slytherin.

'You know, I'd feel bad for her, I mean him, if he hadn't been such a rotten person before. At least now he knows what it feels like to be hated over something so small.' That voice belonged to Hermione Granger.

For a moment, Draco felt bad for what he had put her through. This year, he knew he'd experience his fair share of abuse, most of which would be on par with what he put her through. He tried not to dwell on it. There was no use getting worked up and emotional over someone like her.

He ducked into the closest carriage, which had a few first years inside. Luckily, they paid no attention to him. He pulled out a book, hoping the journey wouldn't be as long and dull as he expected it to be.

Sitting in the great hall was possibly the most awkward experience of Draco's life. No one wanted to sit near him, and he could hear multiple people mocking him. He decided to keep his head down and not let them get a rise out of him. Everything would get easier when the sorting began. The first years still hadn't been called in, but now in his fifth year, Draco was used to the long wait.

'Malfoy, with me please. The headmaster wishes to discuss something with you,' Snape said from behind. Draco immediately got up and followed him to Dumbledore's office, seeing it as an opportunity to escape the uncomfortable atmosphere of the Slytherin table.

'Ah, Draya. I trust you know why I called you here?' Dumbledore asked.

'With all due respect, sir, I thought we already had everything sorted out. Also, you know that's not my name anymore. My name is Draco,' He said. If anything, Draco was always calm and assertive in situations like this. There'd be no point in angering Dumbledore, especially in his current situation. He needed as many allies as possible, and had the sense to know they'd be hard to come by.

'Ah, I'm sorry, it slipped my mind. I'll try to remember from now on.' Dumbledore began to pour some tea for himself and Draco.

'Now, I'm aware you and your family had a bit of an altercation after you came out,' Dumbledore said.

'Yes, but I'm living with a lovely family now, They let me be me,' Draco replied, hoping Dumbledore wouldn't delve further into his domestic life.

'Delightful. I've spoken to them, and they've given me permission to let you see a specialist to talk to about your gender. They'll see if you're suitable to start hormone changing potions when you turn sixteen. You will speak with them every two weeks, and hopefully they'll help you figure things out.'

Draco couldn't hold back his tears. Everything he'd ever wanted seemed so close. It would make this year of bullying worth it. Even if he had to wait an entire year, he was elated to be starting down the path of transitioning.

'That's great! Thank you so much!' he exclaimed.

Draco left and returned to the Great Hall. He'd missed a large chunk of the sorting, with only three first years left to be sorted. Time seemed to crawl by, which wasn't helped by the glares Draco was receiving. He just wanted to get some food and get out. Once the feast began, he ate quickly then snuck off back to his room before anyone else could tease him. Luckily, people were too scared to say anything to his face. The name Malfoy protected him. People feared repercussions from his father, which meant he was always able to skate by unscathed by people. This wouldn't last though. It wouldn't take long for news to spread about his family disowning him. Tomorrow, classes would start. The real trouble had barely begun.


	2. Chapter 2

Draco eagerly anticipated his first appointment with his gender specialist. He felt a little uneasy, but he knew it would be something that would really improve his quality of life. This first week he had to get out of care of magical creatures for it, but the following appointments would be held outside of class time. Draco couldn't help but feel nervous about having to get out of class. As it was a double period, he'd have to leave halfway through the class. Normally, this sort of thing rarely bothered him. Since news of his transition became public knowledge, small things like this terrified him. Every little thing was a window of opportunity for people to harass him. It bothered him, and even only being two weeks into term time, it was beginning to really get to him. The only positive he could think of that came from all of this was his realisation of how horrible he'd been in the past. Going from being the top bully at school making people's lives misery, to being at the bottom of the pecking order and everyone's target had certainly changed his outlook on life. His actions had changed too. Now, he was far less obnoxious and wouldn't even dream of hurting someone. Draco now understood how the people he bullied felt. Looking back, Draco hated who he was when he was the person who had everything. He hated how cruel and insufferable he was. There was nothing Draco wanted more than to apologise to the people he previously bullied, but now most of them bullied him. He didn't resent them for that. If he was in their position, he would probably do the same. The change in the power dynamic must have been intoxicating for them. As someone who had everything and became nothing, Draco could only imagine how amazing it would feel for those who were previously the bottom of the chain to suddenly hold power over someone. Especially someone who had previously held power over them. Draco knew there was no point trying to fight this delicate ecosystem, and decided to just try to get on with his life. Just keep his head down and focus on his studies. If he tried to fight it, he would just make life much harder for himself. It was evident in how no one would defend him that he was truly hated by everyone. Normally, he wasn't one to deal in black and white absolutes, but this definitely was a case of people either being with him or against him. No one was with him, nor did he expect anyone to be with him. Even the few out gay kids at Hogwarts were against him. It hurt to be shunned by people who share a community with you, but he understood it. He'd definitely made questionable remarks to them regarding their sexuality, so he felt their hatred was much more to do with that as opposed to actual transphobia.

Draco made sure to get to care of magical creatures early. He had to hand Hagrid a note from Dumbledore explaining why he was leaving early. Hagrid had no love for Draco, but at least he wasn't one of the teachers who outright picked on him during class. If anyone would understand why he would want to discreetly disclose his business, it would be Hagrid. One of Draco's biggest regrets was how he had treated him in the past. Unfortunately, when Draco approached Hagrid's hut, he could see that Harry, Ron, and Hermione were helping him prepare for the lesson. Approaching Hagrid now seemed impossible. It would be much easier to do this in front of a whole class rather than an intimate group of friends who are very close with the teacher. He turned to walk away when he heard Ron say rather loudly,

'What's that little prick doing here so early?' Draco couldn't help but smirk. Subtlety was never one of Ron's strong points.

He decided to turn back around and approach Hagrid. Though anxious, he hid it well, seeming confident and perhaps a little cocky. Harry and Ron looked like they wanted to start a fight with him for the simple act of approaching the group, whereas Hermione just seemed to want to avoid any conflict.

'Listen Draya, you have no reason to be here. Just go away,' Harry said to him. The misnaming hurt Draco, but he decided to not show that.

'It's Draco, and as a matter of fact, I do have business here. I have a, er, letter to deliver to Hagrid. It's from Dumbledore. Now if you don't mind Potter, this is important.'

The look on Harry's face was priceless. Just because Draco seemed to be the bottom of the pecking order at Hogwarts now, did not mean that he wouldn't be assertive in situations where he could get away with it. He knew it would anger Harry and Ron, but he knew it would take a lot for them to hit a "girl", and he knew they weren't exactly accepting of him being trans. Hermione was a different story. She seemed somewhat respectful of his gender identity. Maybe he'd try to talk to her at some point. If nothing else, he could apologise for how he treated her. Now was not the time, though. With Harry looking stunned and Ron looking furious, Draco approached Hagrid.

'Dumbledore says not to make a big deal of it, okay?' Draco said, handing him the note. He knew it was risky to try to command Hagrid, but he assumed Hagrid would get what he means. When Hagrid had finished reading the letter, he moved closer to Draco and said,

'You jus' leave when you need to, I won't say nothin.'

Draco smiled in response to Hagrid's kindness. Now, the rest of the Gryffindors and Slytherins were arriving at the hut for the lesson, so Draco as usual moved to the back of the class and patiently paid attention. Today's lesson was about Graphorns, and luckily it was something Draco had studied in his spare time. The first half of the lesson went quite well, and Draco could tell that the second half was just going to be more of the same introductory information. When it came time to leave, Draco simply snuck away, or tried to anyway. Despite being at the back of the class, someone's eyes must have been on him. He heard a voice shout 'Oh look! Draya's away to get her sex change!'

The statement was followed by an eruption of laughter. Draco couldn't turn back around and face it. He felt tears welling in his eyes.

'That's enough!' Hagrid's voice boomed. 'Now, as I was saying…' He continued, jumping right back into the lesson.

Draco walked away from the class very quickly. He wanted to cry, but he knew showing up to this appointment a weeping mess would not work out in his favour. Instead, he decided to just focus on each step he took. With each step, the sadness faded and anger built up in its place. How dare they be so rude? Do they not know how dangerous he could be? Yeah, he didn't hold the same position of power as he did previously, but he definitely knew how to fight. Both in the muggle way and the wizarding way. The next person who tried anything would be getting the brunt of Draco's anger. He knew he would get in trouble for it, but at least it may stop the harassment he was facing.

Once he arrived at the room his appointment was in, he was greeted by an older woman with long, fair hair and black rectangle glasses that made the features of her thin face look rather harsh.

'Hello, you must be Draco. Please, take a seat. My name is Anna Copperhan. I'll be handling your case from now until you feel you have reached a point in your transition that you can leave our care,' She said.

Draco sat on a comfortable chair facing Anna's desk. 'Pleased to meet you,' Draco responded.

'Now, today's just going to be an assessment. Don't worry, we ask everyone these questions and I know they might feel a bit personal but please answer honestly. The assessment can take up to two hours, which I know is quite exhausting, so if you need a break at anytime, let me know.'

Draco was taken aback by how quickly they were getting into things, but he was excited to begin. 'Thanks, should we begin?' he asked.

'Yes. Now these first few questions will be about your childhood.' With that, the interview process began.

For the most part, the interview was just boring questions about his childhood and how he felt about his body. He answered honestly. Yes, he always felt like he should have been with the boys and had male friends, no, he didn't fit in with the girls. Puberty was distressing because he felt his body was developing the wrong way and it became very obvious he wasn't a boy. Yes, he hated his chest and his genitals. Of course he dressed as a boy in secret for years, but only publicly done so for six months, although he was very much a tomboy before then. It was all standard stuff nosy people asked him about all the time anyway. What made him uncomfortable were the questions about his sexuality. Draco confessed to being bisexual, which he didnt think would be a big deal. That is until he was asked super personal questions about his love life. Draco said he hadn't dated anyone before, but he was still asked about what role he would prefer in sexual situations. This made him very uncomfortable. He was only fifteen. Sure, people his age had sex, but he knew he definitley didn't, nor did he want to. Legally, he couldn't even consent, so he didn't understand why he was being asked about this. He just said he didn't think about it too much because it made him dysphoric. This seemed to satisfy Anna. The appointment overall was dull, and the two hours really dragged on.

'Okay, I'm going to write up your answers and we'll go through what you said and what it all means at our next appointment. After speaking to you, it is very clear you are suffering from gender dysphoria. Our appointments from here on out will be about helping you cope with this mentally, and discussing what you want to do with your transition. Our next appointments will be about an hour long, and they'll be on the second and fourth Thursday of each month after your classes. Do you have any questions?' Anna asked.

'No, I think I'm good,' Draco responded.

'Right, okay. Well, I'll see you in a couple of weeks. Bye, it was lovely meeting you.'

Draco began walking to the common room. It was dinnertime, but Draco decided not to eat tonight. It wasn't that he wasn't hungry, he just didn't feel like being around people right now. That appointment was very tiring, and he knew he would not be able to mentally deal with the harassment he would face. No, tonight he just wanted to go to his room and do some studying. OWLs were this year, and Draco wanted to be well prepared. Despite not reaching his potential thus far in his education, Draco was incredibly smart when he applied himself. Now that he just focused on his education as opposed to his social life and bullying people, his grades were fast improving. His homework scores were always either perfect or near perfect, and he knew teachers were beginning to expect him to flourish this year. It surprised everyone. Hermione pretended it didn't get to her, but Draco noticed the fire in her eyes any time he did as good or better than her. Unlike Hermione, Draco wasn't one to flaunt his intellect. Hermione would always answer in class and try to impress teachers, whereas Draco would just quietly take in the information and throw in some extra stuff when he wrote essays. He supposed the intent of putting his own extra knowledge into essays and homework could be viewed as him trying to impress teachers, but Draco didn't see it this way. The extra information was usually just so he could be confident he wasn't leaving anything out, and because it was usually important to the subject anyway. Half of the extra information he included should be taught, or at least that's what Draco thought.

Once Draco had finished doing his homework and some studying, he went to bed. Hopefully, tomorrow would be better than today.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN:
> 
> So that's everything edited and reposted. I'll try to get chapter three up in the next few days, but I'm visiting family and I don't have my laptop, so it might take up to a week. I'm going to try to upload every week I think.
> 
> Anyway if you like this and want to support me, here's a link to my Ko-fi
> 
> ko-fi. com/dean0772


	3. Chapter 3

The sun peeked through the sheer magenta curtains in the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom. The new interior decor made all the students feel uneasy. Draco found the bright pink and the photographs of cats around the room to be ironic. Dolores was anything but soft, so the decor juxtaposed wildly with the atmosphere of the class. Even he had to admit that she had ruined any joy the class had brought. Luckily for him, he already knew many of the spells that would have normally been covered. The other students didn’t have that privilege. They would miss out the most because of Dolores’ approach to teaching, and heavens forbid anyone speak up about it. The old crone wasn’t known for her kindness. Each night, a few students would return from detention miserable and terrified. Draco hadn’t had the courage to ask anyone what happened, as most people still found him a laughing stock. Still, it piqued his curiosity.

While it was common knowledge Draco no longer had ties to the Malfoy family, Dolores had enough sense to not be outwardly nasty to him. She was by no means kind, and she was rather cold to him, but never outright hostile. Perhaps she was doing it out of her own self interest, as the consequences of mistreating Draco would be dire if his family welcomed him back. Maybe she was just too busy picking on Harry. Either way, it benefited him. The best approach he found was to just keep his head down and get on with his work. If he didn’t draw attention to himself, he didn’t have to worry about whatever her cruel punishments were. He tended to have this approach for most classes, and it worked to an extent. The fairer teachers praised him for his hard work and improving grades. The more biased teachers either outright ignored him, or found any excuse to punish him. Knowing there wasn’t much point disputing his unfair treatment, he decided to comply. If anything, it would at least keep him from further embarrassment. Some teachers liked to make a spectacle out of him. He wondered how they could get away with such mistreatment of students, but it hardly surprised him. Snape outright bullied Neville and never seemed to face any repercussions from that. Filch shouted abuse at children and the worst he got was Dumbledore not letting him physically abuse students. There seemed to be no laws about this in the wizarding world, which shocked Draco. It was something he hadn’t really thought about before he came out. When he wasn’t on the receiving end of it, it really didn’t seem all that bad. It was almost humorous before. Now, it shocked him that no one would speak up against it. Surely this left a lasting impact on people. Someone must have tried to do something about it. 

When class ended he decided to go to the library to research it. No one really bothered him in the library, so he frequented it often. From spending so much time in the library, Draco discovered a passion he never thought he had- wizarding world law. He acknowledged the irony in that considering he came from a long line of dark wizards and witches. Perhaps things falling apart with his family caused him to develop this interest. Part of him knew this was an act of rebellion. When he thought about it, his parents grooming him to follow in their footsteps didn’t really leave him much time to develop his own interests or personality. He shook his head, ridding himself of those thoughts. He was here for a reason. He approached Madam Pince’s desk. 

‘Hi, I need to find, well, anything to do with wizarding education law,’ Draco asked, to which Madam Pince raised an eyebrow.

‘Really? Doesn’t your father take care of all that for you?’ she asked, before a look of embarrassment washed over her. Draco was enraged by her lack of tact.

‘In case you were unaware,’ Draco began, trying to hold back his vitriol, ‘My father is a bigot who didn’t want his child to turn out like I did. So, before I report you for your complete lack of tact, could you please tell me where I can find what I’m looking for?’

All this seemed to achieve was a smug look from Madam Pince. ‘Don’t speak to me that way, girl. I have half a mind to throw you out of here!’

Draco sighed in frustration when a voice from behind him said, ‘Don’t throw him out please! He needs it for a project we’re doing in a history of magic.’

The voice belonged to Hermione Granger. By the looks of it, Madam Pince was just as surprised as he was that she would come to his defence. He was sure she would see through her lie, she knew the Slytherins and Griffendors didn’t take that class together. The skepticism was obvious as Madam Pince gave Hermione a doubtful look. Under normal circumstances, Draco would be elated to see the insufferable mudblood get in trouble, but his conscience was nagging him to help her. She was the only student to show him any kindness since he began his fifth year. Perhaps it was time to set aside differences. If nothing else, it would be nice to not be so lonely all the time. 

‘It’s okay, Hermione. No need to lie,’ Draco said.

‘Well then what do you need it for? Someone like you should have researched all of that before making your lifestyle choice while you’re still in school,’ Madam Pince said sternly.

Before Draco had a chance to speak, Hermione chimed in, ‘And what exactly do you mean by that?’ She seemed furious.

‘You know too well what I mean. Now just find what you are looking for and begone. I don’t have time for this when there’s plenty of students needing help finding stuff for their exams.’ With that, Madam Pince rushed off to help some seventh years.

‘Thanks, Granger,’ Draco said begrudgingly, looking at the ground. He wanted to kick himself for letting a mudblood defend him. What would his father think if he knew his child needed a mudblood to stand up for him? Not that it mattered much now.

‘Listen. I haven’t forgiven you for all the rotten things you’ve done, but admit it, we have more in common than you think,’ Hermione said.

‘I don’t need your pity, Granger, and what do we possibly have in common?’ Draco replied.

‘You know, if you just looked past your horrible bigoted indoctronation, you’d be able to see it. It’s so obvious,’ She said, frustrated.

‘Yeah, whatever. Look, I’m willing to put everything in the past. I’m sorry for being so horrible to you.’

‘Horrible?!’ she exclaimed, which drew the attention of many other students. She lowered her voice and continued, ‘You were downright cruel to anyone who wasn’t a rich pureblood! How do you not see how awful you treated people, especially muggleborns, now you’re being treated exactly the same as you treated us?’

He knew she was right, but he wasn’t about to admit that, at least not fully. Hermione had a habit of being incredibly smug when she was right, and all Draco wanted was help with research. ‘Okay, I see your point, but let’s not talk about it right now. Pince is going to kick us out, and I really need to grab these books,’ He said, in an attempt to change the topic.

‘Why do you want books on wizarding education laws anyway? No offence, but it doesn’t seem like something you’d be into,’ she questioned.

‘Inquisitive as always, Granger. To be honest, I just got curious about the laws in place on how students are treated. Seems a bit strange that professors are allowed to do anything short of torturing us.’ 

He could tell Hermione knew a lot about this, because her face lit up the same way it did in class when they were covering a topic she already read about. The look normally irritated him, but today he couldn’t be more thankful to see that know-it-all smirk on her face.

‘I can help you find stuff on that. The wizarding world really doesn’t have much in the ways of laws protecting children. Not that you’d care, but it’s completely different in the muggle world,’

That did surprise Draco. The muggle world wasn’t something he paid attention to under normal circumstances. He’d always believed they were lesser, inferior beings. In fact, he believed witches and wizards should have control over the muggles. He wasn’t exactly shy about sharing these beliefs either. When he thought about it, he only really thought that way because that’s how he was brought up. Maybe muggles could be left to their own devices and not be controlled by the wizarding world. However, that didn’t mean they weren’t inferior. Despite this, he did think comparing the muggle laws with the wizard laws would be beneficial. 

‘Actually, that is kind of interesting. It’d be cool to compare the laws,’ He said, to which Hermione let out a small laugh.

‘Wow, a Malfoy taking an interest in the muggle world! And protection laws! I’m sorry, I just never thought this would happen,’ She exclaimed, trying to hold back laughter.

‘Ha ha, yes. Very funny. Do you want to help or not?’ He snapped, immediately regretting it. She may be Hermione Granger, but she’s the first person in weeks to be kind to him. Even he knew it would be foolish to alienate her.

‘Sorry, I’m just sick of people laughing at me,’ he said.

‘It’s fine, c’mon and we’ll grab some books. I’ll help you do some research.’

A few hours passed while the two researched. They actually seemed to enjoy each other’s company. Draco knew Hermione was intelligent, but he was surprised at the extent of her knowledge and her willingness to help. They’d uncovered some very interesting things. Namely, there weren't any laws in place to protect children in school. Most physical abuse was allowed if it were a punishment. The only thing off limits seemed to be sexual relationships with students. What interested him most was the contrast with the muggle world. They had so many laws in place to prevent the abuse of children, along with hefty punishments for those that broke them. Maybe the muggle world did get some things right. Learning all of this was starting to shift his view of muggles. Just looking at these laws implied that wizards were barbaric, not muggles. Where wizarding law fell short, muggle law flourished. He had to wonder if laws like these were what his father and other pureblood witches and wizards in the ministry were fighting against. Much to his dismay, he found that to be the case. Any time someone tried to fight for more laws protecting students, they were met with a lot of pushback. The main arguments seemed to be that wizards were good people who wouldn’t hurt children, and the ones that do are punished severely. Muggles only needed those laws in place because they were opportunistic and amoral. Even if someone brought evidence to the court that there was abuse going on, oftentimes it was just settled out of court for a large sum of money to the victims, or blatant lies seemed to pass as a defence for the accused. It sickened both Draco and Hermione.

‘You know, I think you’d make an excellent lawyer,’ Hermione said.

‘Why’s that? I don’t know much about law if I’m being honest,’ he replied.

‘Everyone starts somewhere. I didn’t even know magic existed and I’m top of the year,’ She responded, getting an eye roll from Draco. He knew she was right, though.

‘Look, all I’m saying is you seem to have a passion for this. You’re picking it up easily too. I reckon if you put your head down and work at it you could be really successful,’ She said.

Draco appreciated her kind words, but he didn’t understand it. Out of everyone at Hogwarts, she had the most reason to hate him. Yet she was being so sweet to him. It was puzzling.

‘Hermione, why are you being so nice to me?’ he asked.

‘To be honest, I hate seeing how people are treating you. It’s not like you chose to be trans, you just are. Just like I didn’t choose to be muggleborn. I know I should hate you for what you put me through, and trust me, it’s gonna take a lot to get me to move past it. I just don’t think you deserve to be treated like this. No one does.’

Before he had a chance to express his gratitude, Ron and Harry approached the table.

‘Hermione, dinner is almost over,’ Harry said.

‘Nevermind that, what’s she doing with her?’ Ron spat.

‘For your information Ronald, Draco and I have been doing some research,’ Hermione retorted.

‘Why would you even want to hang out with her?’ Ron asked.

‘I’m sitting right here, Weasley,’ Draco replied.

‘Oh shut up Draya. Bloody hell, you’d think someone in your position would know her place.’

Draco stood up ready to punch Ron. Hermione chimed in, ‘Show some respect! I assure you I have my reasons for hanging out with Draco. He’s changed.’

‘Yeah I’ll believe that when I see it,’ Harry scoffed.

‘You know what? You will see it, Potter,’ Draco said, ‘I don’t have time for this. Hermione, thank you for helping me with this. We should continue our research some time.’

He stormed off, tired of the situation. He appreciated Hermione stepping in, and was thankful Harry stayed quiet for the most part. His blood was boiling with hatred for Ron. He’d give anything to punch some respect into him, but decided against it. Proving he had changed seemed a wise idea if he wanted any friends at this school, and it would likely annoy Harry to see Draco be the bigger person. As he got into the common room, he made it his goal to prove how much he changed. Not just to Harry, but to everyone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is a bit late! My phone was stolen so that's been stressing me out. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. The next chapter will have a stronger focus on Draco getting to know Harry.
> 
> If you like this and are feeling generous, you can buy me a coffee here: https://ko-fi.com/dean0772

**Author's Note:**

> So I started this fic over a year ago and abandoned it. With all the stuff going on with JKR, I felt it appropriate to revive this. If you'd like to support a trans author (albeit of fanfic, lol) please feel free to buy me a Ko-fi at /dean0772


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